Hadith Explanation

Sins Like Sea Forgiven

The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Whoever says, ‘Subhan Allahi wa bi hamdihi’ one hundred times, his sins will be forgiven even if they were like the foam of the sea.” [Sunan Ibn Majah]

To really understand that Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) is pure of defects implies not ascribing any shortcomings to Him. We think that we don’t ascribe any shortcoming to Him but when we question fate, when we talk about “untimely deaths,” or when it comes to adopting a Hukm Shari and we don’t, justifying our stance with “We know our situation better” we are in fact attributing defects to Allah (subhana wa ta’ala). With such statements we are implying that Allah doesn’t know better, that His wisdom is not infinitely more than ours, that His love of us isn’t infinitely more than our love of ourselves. With such statements we negate the Subhan Allahs that roll off our tongues.

Nothing is worthy of praise except Allah, since anything praiseworthy is so because He made it so. It is only a minute fraction of the good and beauty that is with Him.

Thus, when we say “Subhan Allahi wa bi hamdihi” we should keep its meaning in mind and feel it in our hearts. We should stop for a moment to think about what we are saying, so that we don’t live our lives in contradiction to it.

Saying “Subhan Allahi wa bi hamdihi” a hundred times causes minor sins to be forgiven no matter how many they are in number. For the expiation of major sins it is necessary that we be aware of the mistake we are asking forgiveness for and intend to avoid committing the same in future.